Three Second Sunrise
by ResidentPyromaniac
Summary: A group of little drabbles and ficlets, ranging from crack to actual seriousness. Rated "T" to be safe.
1. Page 1 : Cactus Juice

**Author's Note:** This is a drabble series, where I shall put all of those ideas that decided to jump into my skull while I was watching the show, but aren't practical/long/good enough to warrant their own stories. Genres will be all over the place, and so will drabble lengths. I'll try to group the really short ones onto the same page. The idea for the title came the same way many of my random ideas do: while I was washing the dishes. Really. It's a great time to think.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Avatar. If I did, I would be a much happier and richer person.

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**Three Second Sunrise**

_Cactus Juice_

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"So, where would you want to go after the war?" Katara asked, looking over at Aang.

The airbender shrugged. "I don't know. I've already seen most of the world. But I would want to go back to the North Pole. I liked it there." He glanced at the next person in the circle. "What about you, Toph?"

"How should I know? It's not like I can look at a map and decide or something."

"Right. Sorry. Forgot." Aang looked around. "Sokka?"

The water tribe boy paused for a moment, tapping chopsticks on the edge of his rice bowl in thought. Reaching a decision, he declared, "New York City."

Cue awkward silence.

"_What_?"

Sokka blinked. "You know, New York City! NYC! The Big Apple!"

More silence.

"You know, kinda like Ba Sing Se, only bigger, and really really tall buildings, and a giant statue of some green lady with a pointy hat. And a big park in the middle of Manhattan. And the theater district! With all the musicals and stuff! And...the Brooklyn Bridge! Giant bridge over a big river! I think. OH! And then there's all the people who do street performing, like the musicians on the street corners and the people who paint themselves white or gray and pretend to be statues. And the Naked Cowboy, who isn't really naked. I don't know why he's there, but apparently he makes a living out of being the Naked Cowboy..."

The entire group stared blankly at Sokka. Toph was the one who finally broke the silence.

"Have you been hitting the cactus juice _again?!_"


	2. Page 2 : Two Spirits

**Author's Note:** Hi.

**Disclaimer:** I do not Avatar. If I did, I would seriously limit Ty Lee's caffeine intake.

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**Three Second Sunrise**

_All the World's History_

Flames engulfed the scrolls. The fire devoured thousands of years of history. Wan Shi Tong stared at the destruction, knowing that any action he might take to prevent this would only encourage the fire to spread.

It was bad enough knowing that the human would use the knowledge he stole to destroy an entire culture. A cold fury overtook the spirit as the flames finally started to die.

It decided. No human shall ever abuse the library again.

* * *

**Three Second Sunrise**

_A Second too Late_

Koh glared toward the exit of the cave, watching the young Avatar leave. Someone must have told that child that the famous face-stealer could not steal an expressionless face.

Koh had to admit to itself that the child was very good at maintaining a blank countenance. Despite the spirit's efforts to scare an expression out of the Avatar, he only slipped once. Koh could _hear_ it.

It must have been the spirit's luck that he was facing away from the child that one time. It turned to face the Avatar as quickly as it could.

It was a second too late.

The child's expression was gone when his face was once again in sight. Koh examined the Avatar closely, hoping for even the smallest flicker of emotion. There was none.

Koh switched faces angrily. It had been so close to getting a new face for its collection.

It was just a second too late.


	3. Page 3 : Girlfriends

**Author's Note:** SPOILER WARNING!! SPOILER WARNING FOR BOILING ROCK PART 1!! DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T LIKE SPOILERS!!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Avatar.

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**Three Second Sunrise**

_Girlfriends_

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Somehow, their conversation managed to turn to dating. "I had a girlfriend," Zuko said, staring out at the clouds from his war balloon. "Mai."

"That gloomy girl who sighs a lot?" Sokka asked, incredulous.

Zuko smiled. "Yeah." _And that pretty much sums up her personality…_ "Everyone in the Fire Nation thinks I'm a traitor. I couldn't drag her in too."

Sokka nodded. "My first girlfriend turned into the moon," he said, not realizing exactly how strange he sounded.

Zuko stared blankly at the moon, barely visible in the daylight. It didn't resemble a girl at all. He decided that he probably didn't want to know exactly what Sokka was talking about, lest he find out that the guy was insane. "That's rough, buddy."


	4. Page 4 : Luna

**Disclaimer: ** I don't own Avatar: The last Airbender. Or Yue.

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**Three Second Sunrise**

_Luna_

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I had to leave them all behind. Father, Mother. Sokka. I'll admit it; I was upset about it at first. The fact that I had no other choice didn't change that. But that faded with time. I realized that I couldn't let the world fall because of my selfishness.

I didn't know what to expect with becoming the moon spirit. Just existing maintained the balance of the world, so that was less stress there.

The koi in the oasis at the North Pole weren't actually the spirits them- ourselves. They were more like an anchor for us in the physical world. In a sense, they were our hearts. We could go anywhere in the physical world we wanted, but if the fish were injured, we would be too.

Tui was kind enough to me, although a bit distant. That's understandable. He was a spirit, and I was just a human until La was killed. He considers me a child, as do the other spirits. Compared to them, I am just an infant.

I kept watch over Sokka a lot. I didn't want him to be upset about my fate. I had not choice, and he realized that. He was still sad, though. He never admitted it to Aang and his sister, but he was.

Some places in the physical world are closer to the spirit world than others. In those places, I can appear to the living whenever I want, although the phases of the moon dictate my strength. When Sokka was in Foggy Swamp, I appeared to him. I tried to tell him not to worry, that he didn't have to protect me, but the moon was new and I was weak in the physical world. He misunderstood me.

Later I was able to correct my mistake. Sokka had run into another girl, presumably an old friend. She liked him. He liked her, but was afraid to admit it.

The moon was full then, so I could appear to him and be understood completely. I explained that he didn't have to protect me at the North Pole, and that all I wanted was for him to be happy. There were no misunderstandings.

Suki, her name is. They make a good couple.


	5. Page 5 : Monster : Predator

**Disclaimer: ** I don't own Avatar: The last Airbender. I do own a cookie. And I ate it.

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**Three Second Sunrise**

_Monster (Take One: Predator)_

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"_My own mother thought I was a monster."_

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It was true, she was not like the other children, and not simply because she was the Princess. Even when she was just a toddler, she loved watching creatures kill. The swift brutality of the messenger hawks, the playful torture of the palace cats. From them, she learned the basic, inescapable rules of nature. Every being was for itself. Life was a game of kill or be killed. There were predators, and there were prey.

Some people were always the prey, born and remaining so for their entire life. Those were the servants, her useless brother, and the like. She was a predator, like her father, able to inflict and witness agony without any remorse. The world and its people were her toys.

They called her a monster for it.

She was a predator.


	6. Page 6 : Monster : Immortal

**Disclaimer: **I think we've already established the fact that I do not own Avatar.

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**Three Second Sunrise**

_Monster (Take two: Immortal)_

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"_Azula! How could you do such a thing?"_

* * *

She watched the turtle-duckling flutter helplessly in the water, its shell smashed by the rock she threw. The critter's mother circled it frantically, unable to help. No matter what it could do, the tiny creature did not have long to live.

It was as she had heard from one of the servants, a man who had crazy theories on the nature of the universe. She liked eavesdropping on his conversation with other palace workers, remaining hidden from sight. The man believed that there was a limited amount of actual life in the world, and that was why creatures would die as, elsewhere, another thing was born.

She figured that it made perfect sense. And the less things that were living in the world, the longer she would survive herself.

The more she killed, the less chance she had of ever dying.

She could be immortal, if only she killed enough.


	7. Page 7 : Monster : Snapped

**Disclaimer: **Oh, please. Do I really need to repeat this?

**Warning:** Spoilers for the Comet.

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**Three Second Sunrise**

_Monster (Take Three: Snapped)_

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"_No, Azula. I love you."_

* * *

Azula glared at the shards of glass, seeing a broken reflection. Her hair was disheveled without servants to style it for her. Servants couldn't be trusted. They feared her, but not enough. One of them could kill her if she let her guard down. So she banished them all.

The Dai Lee agents were the least trustworthy of all. They had betrayed to join her. They could do the same against her.

Fear was the only thing she needed to control people, but she could no longer inspire enough.

"_You miscalculated. My love for Zuko is stronger than my fear of you."_

They betrayed her. It was their fault. They destroyed her power. They deserved jail.

Her mother couldn't have loved her. She was a monster. She was _proud_ of being a monster. She only pretended it had hurt, so her subordinates could pretend she was human.

She couldn't fail. Failure was a human trait. She was not human. She was powerful. She was the Fire Lord.


End file.
